GRCC, GVSU to sign articulation agreement

May 30, 2014 GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Grand Rapids Community College and Grand Valley State University are forming a partnership to make sure GRCC students have a seamless transfer to GVSU.

Representatives of both institutions will attend the signing of an articulation agreement at 11 a.m. June 4 in room 108 of GRCC’s Sneden Hall, 415 E. Fulton. President Dr. Steven C. Ender and interim Provost Patti Trepkowski will represent GRCC, and President Thomas J. Haas and Provost Gayle R. Davis will attend from GVSU.

Jodi Gee, head of GRCC’s exercise science department, and GRCC student Courtney Tolar will also attend the June 4 ceremony. Gee’s department recently signed a 2+2 pre-major articulated program agreement that gives GRCC students a seamless transfer to GVSU’s rapidly growing clinical exercise science program. The agreement, announced in February, is a first for GRCC’s exercise science department. It will allow a student majoring in exercise science to complete the first two years of the program at GRCC, finish their final two years at GVSU and graduate with a bachelor’s degree in clinical exercise science.

After the institutional articulation agreement with GVSU is in place, students in other GRCC programs will have the same ease of transfer as those pursuing clinical exercise science. Faculty from both institutions will work together formalizing a set of GRCC courses that students need to complete a transfer to GVSU. In addition to providing ease of transfer, all newly formed 2+2 pre-major articulated programs will be included as programs in the GRCC catalog, making it easy for students and advisers to find which courses students should take for transfer.

“This partnership means that our students will be able to see a clear pathway from their GRCC courses to the degree programs they want to pursue at GVSU,” said GRCC President Dr. Steven C. Ender. “They will know what they need to do, and GVSU will know that they’re prepared to excel there.”

GRCC participates in the Michigan Transfer Agreement, or MTA, which is designed to help GRCC students who graduate with an associate in arts or an associate in science transfer to their preferred four-year institution. Completion of the MTA requirements at GRCC will fulfill most lower-division general education requirements at participating four-year colleges and universities. Articulated programs that are supported by formally signed articulation agreements provide the transferring student with a detailed program of study to follow, allowing them to transfer into a particular program at their preferred college or university. GRCC has 42 articulation agreements with 23 colleges and universities.

Grand Rapids Community College, established in 1914, offers opportunities for more than 30,000 students annually in degree courses, certification and training programs, workshops and personal enrichment classes. GRCC holds classes on the downtown Grand Rapids campus as well as several locations throughout Kent and Ottawa counties.